Art For The Sake of Blackness

As I look through Cory Arcangel’s past work and his interviews, I definitely get the feeling that he is a suburbin’ kid from the 90s, who looooved pop culture growing up. And once he became a grown up, decided to produce pop culture content that other kids in the suburb would buy.

Consider his magazine piece “This is All so Crazy,” wherein his art takes the form of a 90s themed pop magazine, but instead of celebrities this piece is solely about him. Which I think is a bit cheeky and cool that he is doing a piece that is explicitly about celebrating himself and the work he has produced.

These two clothing pieces remind me of the clothing brand Supreme, a street ware brand. But in looking at Arcangel’s line, I keep getting this nagging feeling of “what fame or notoriety is he building off of in order to make these very simple and generic  clothing pieces.”

While I don’t intend to offend or belittle Aecangel’s art, specifically in regards to the clothing, I just find myself repeatedly wondering where the originality is in his work.

Just on a first glance of Newsome’s website, I get a butterfly of excitement. Here is a young Black man making art, seemingly of Black culture, for Black people. It is not merely that Newsome is Black or that I don’t consume Black culture [because I do, I am hella Black], nor is it that his pieces are beautiful and  unique, it is that all of this is true, and there is something calming about that for me.

Consider the piece “Fitted Crown,” an elegant snap back hat with a crown as the head piece. There is no denying the impact of hip hop and street ware culture on art. And this piece beautifully brings together artistic design and political position.

Rashaad Newsome “AA024802 (Converted)”

This video of a stage filled with a cast of Black woman creating music, sound, language, or whatever you want to call it is such a beautiful depiction of how the ordinary can be so extremely beautiful.

This piece is so stunning with its vibrant shades of color. The mix of melanin brown, red, and rusted gold of the mask give the aura of warmth and youthfulness.